


bound

by Crashingcovex



Category: Captain Harlock
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling, Flashbacks, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Mental Link ?, Nightmares, Past Lives, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Telepathy ??? What do I call this, endless orbit ssx continuity, hhhh idk why my fics come out so short rip, like. Pertaining to the riverbank scene in AOMY, some gore???, yes I just wanted to write more fluff at the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:01:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27611072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crashingcovex/pseuds/Crashingcovex
Summary: Tochiro and Harlock’s bond was, clearly, something extraordinary. That much became abundantly clear to anyone who crossed the pair’s collective path.
Relationships: Harlock (Captain Harlock)/Oyama "Tochiro" Toshiro
Kudos: 6





	bound

**Author's Note:**

> Again my writing skills are soooo rusty- I haven’t written regularly in years and still don’t, but I like filling my empty cold heart wit cute tochilock :) this fic centers around a headcanon of mine, that the two possess a sort of mental link, where they can feel the other’s presence on a more-than-physical-level, detect their auras, how the other is feeling , etc. like a sixth sense. Their souls are quite literally linked, and they’re joined at the hip, so it makes sense within canon. romantic feelings are implied, but if you prefer to see them as platonic go ahead ! 
> 
> It’s messy and all over the place and the end is just shameless fluff but constructive criticism is appreciated . My brain starts to get all fried and scrambled while writing, all over the place .

Tochiro and Harlock’s bond was, clearly, something extraordinary. That much became abundantly clear to anyone who crossed the pair’s collective path. 

Extraordinary not only in the sheer closeness of the relationship- which could be seen from miles away- but something cradled within the deep recesses and roaring caverns of the two’s shared psyche, rich with history, and paved over many generations and lifetimes of love. 

It seemed, really, almost supernatural, and maybe at times a little terrifying. If the two noticed it themselves, they didn’t comment. But it becomes evident to an onlooker in all the small things. Whether it was Harlock having a particularly tough day, and Tochiro noticing in an instant and rushing to be by his side, or the way they always knew what the other was thinking. They were always in sync with each other- despite their so many apparent physical and behavioral differences, something inside them links them together tight enough to bridge across even the dark pit of death. They both breathed and lived together as a well-oiled machine, one that powered both the Arcadia and held tight the thread that bound the whole crew together. 

•••  
TOCHIRO POV- past  
•••

Tochiro mulled defeatedly over his dinner.

The bar was full of Illumidas soldiers, and it felt like they all were laughing at him. They almost outnumbered his human companions, of all who seemed to share his downcast mood. Would humanity be subdued so easily? 

Earth had been defeated some time prior, leaving humans as Illumidas subordinates. This evening felt just as hopeless as the rest, but he forced his spirits to remain high. Or , at least, higher than those of his human companions, with their long faces and defeated stares. Tochiro dug into his food once more. All we can do is eat and wait. 

The doors to the bar opened again, and Tochiro felt a strange.. twinge through his body, resonating from his head. Strange. He looked up to see a tall, lean and handsome man with chin-length brown hair and a gnarled scar across his face. Voices rose up around the newcomer. “Look, he’s got a black collar!” Some Illumidas soldier hooted, almost mockingly. Which was true, he did. Which meant he was respectable and skilled. 

Tochiro felt drawn to him. It was strange. He watched almost intently as the tall man took a seat across the room, and a moment later finally forced himself to avert his eyes and focus on his dinner.

Tochiro felt the twinge again, and felt rather than saw two pretty brown eyes focused on him. 

I know how you feel, it seemed he was thinking. Or, that’s what he guessed, Tochiro supposed. The tall man focused forward again, leaving Tochiro free to ogle at him once more. He felt a radiance of defiance from the man. Something told him he had plans on his mind. His spirits were dampened, but that only seemed to fuel some fire within him. Tochiro felt warmed by it.

Grabbing the bottle of sake from where he’d stashed it in the seat beside him, he weaved through the crowd- which was easy, given his small size- and, surprised by his own boldness, placed a hand on the man’s shoulder.

“Just don’t die.” He said with a nod. Somehow, those words felt right. 

•••  
Harlock POV- past  
•••

Harlock gazed after the short man who’d approached him as he walked away through the crowd. 

And I was feeling sorry for him, he thought with amusement. 

After watching him get about halfway to the door, Harlock turned back around to his dinner. But he felt too restless to eat. There was so much that needed to be done. We have to fight back, he thought, though that part was obvious. 

A strange twinge seemed to pull his gaze back around to the direction where his new friend had gone. An Illumidas soldier towered over him, surrounded by a gaggle of his stupid green comrades. Something urged Harlock to his feet. Something in his mind seemed to pull him towards the short man, and filled him with a fighting rage. Just as the Illumidas aggressor pulled back to strike, Harlock was quicker. His fist rocketed into the Illumidas soldier’s face, sending him stumbling into his companions. 

He grinned, his gaze briefly meeting the short man’s. He knew, somehow, something big had shifted in his life. He’d found something he’d long been looking for.

•••  
TOCHIRO POV- present  
•••

Something had awoken him- and he wasn’t quite sure what just yet. 

Heavy with tiredness, he sat up in his cot, his bleary gaze adjusting to the gloom of his workshop-bedroom combo. Everything seemed perfectly alright and in its place... had mii-kun managed to knock over another bottle in the kitchen? That would make the most sense. No- that couldn’t be it. Something deeper than what lay physical on the ship felt... off.

He felt it again, stronger. It read across to him as distress. Fully awake now with the feeling, he closed his eyes and reached out in the mental direction of where Harlock’s spirit should be resting. Instead of feeling that sweet wave of calm he hoped for that told him Harlock was peacefully asleep, he felt a jolt of distress. 

Filled with a sense of urgency, Tochiro leapt up and hurried out of his room and towards the captain’s cabin. 

Catching his breath, Tochiro slowly opened the door, gazing into the heavy darkness. Harlock’s shadowy form, still in his bed, thrashed in his sheets. The feeling grew overpowering, a feeling Tochiro rarely-if ever- felt from his captain and closest person. Fear, dread- something immense and dark and ominous seemed to loom over him as he closed the door behind him, hurrying to Harlock’s bedside. 

•••  
HARLOCK POV- dream  
•••

Fire and debris rained down around him, forming a burning hot and bright red hell within the bridge of the Deathshadow. He struggled to breathe, hacking and gagging as he lowered to the floor in an attempt to gather any clean air into his burning lungs. Everything stung and everything was loud and hot and he was going to *die*, he thought.

Harlock pawed desperately though the building rubble for his book. He couldn’t let it get burnt up- he-

His hand felt something warm and solid. He heard the pained groan of his fallen crewmate, and forced his eyes as open as possible through the burning ash as he hurried to help them as best he could. He gazed down into the unrecognizable face of a fellow soldier, his uniforms tattered and burnt. He opened his mouth to say something-he wasn’t sure of what- before another explosion racked the ship, and it went black again.

Ears ringing, Harlock pushed himself up, every muscle screaming in protest. Confused, he found he was no longer in that fiery bridge. Instead , he was hundreds of years behind, hundreds of miles away, back on the grounds of earth. He recognized this riverbank. 

Whipping his gaze around, he turned to see Tochiro resting against the side of his fallen aircraft, hands and wrists cut and bloodied. Looking down, he suddenly found he now held the familiar gunsight. He must’ve picked it up when he wasn’t looking...

Harlock hurried to Tochiro, cradling him close as he pocketed the gunsight. He longed to hold him here forever, in this dream, but distant gunshots and foreign voices because louder. He hoisted his companion up, onto his back, and stepped into freezing waters of the river. “They’re Frenchman who have penetrated into German territory.” Harlock’s voice said it, but he didn’t recall saying it. 

The sound of gunfire filled the air and grew louder and louder as Harlock hurried to gently place Tochiro in the soft grasses on the other side of the river. He gazed down at the smaller man fondly for only a moment before the gunshots rained down. They pinged against the faraway metal of the plane and splashed into the waters of the river, and Harlock grimaced as he felt one make its way into the flesh of his shoulder.

“He’s in the river!” The shouts came. His ancestor self said something to Tochiro- he didn’t catch what this time as his dread mounted. The gunshots rained down. He felt them hit- every one driving the life out of him. He felt his own blood soaking him and dripping into the swirling waters, and most of all, he saw Tochiro, watching in horror and frozen in fear from the riverbank. 

No, no, no- he couldn’t be torn away from Tochiro like this- they had to stay together- they had to be together as they always were. It couldn’t end here, no-

•••  
TOCHIRO POV  
•••

Climbing onto the velvety sheets of Harlock’s bed, filled with worry, Tochiro reached down and let a hand comb through the taller man’s soft hair, cradling his top half as best he could with the other. 

Panting and with a slight amount of perspiration on his distressed face, Harlock’s eye shot open. He gazed around like a wild animal for a few moments, thrashing in Tochiro’s grip. 

“Hey, hey it’s me. Shhh, it’s me.” Tochiro murmured, pulling him closer. Almost instantly, the pretty man relaxed, going slack in his soulmate’s arms and allowing his eye to slide closed again as he caught his breath. Tochiro continued to stroke his hair tenderly as Harlock pulled he shorter man closer, inhaling his familiar scent deeply as his heartbeat attempted to slow to normal. 

“It’s okay.” Tochiro whispered, nuzzling him gently. 

“I’m... sorry I woke you.” Harlock offered weakly, but inside he selfishly knew he needed his friend right now. 

“I knew you needed me.” 

Harlock breathed deeply. 

Tochiro planted a kiss on Harlock’s cheek. “Was it the same nightmare?” 

Harlock hesitated, then nodded, to which Tochiro felt more than saw as he was hugged so tight and close. “Yes.” Harlock answered weakly. Images flashed behind his eyelid, rapid and jarring, terrifying and full of loss and death. “It’s so much.” He whispered. “Every time, I lose you. Or you lose me. I just...” he sighed. “I want us together like this forever.” If it was possible, he gripped Tochiro even closer, reassured by his warmth and presence. Tochiro felt himself melt at the rawness of Harlock’s confession. He considered himself a lucky man to be the only one who got to see him so open, so vulnerable. 

“I’m always here.” Tochiro whispered, his heart full. He loved Harlock so much, and Harlock loved him just as so. “Even if you can’t see me. Always.” he murmured. It was cheesy, but it was true. They both knew that in this lifetime, one of them would perish first. That’s how it always went. They were lucky, though- luckier than most- that they got this chance to know each other in glimpses of different times and places and backdrops. Despite temporarily being put off by death in some instances, their souls and passions for each other remained all the same. Things changed, but they always found each other. 

Harlock moved and kissed Tochiro’s lips softly, and Tochiro returned the gesture. They roamed on each other gently with their touches and caresses, passionately affectionate, before Harlock yawned and stretched onto his side, allowing Tochiro to nestle against his chest, lining perfectly with the curve of his stomach.

They stayed like that for awhile, entangled, before Tochiro reached out within his mind to Harlock- he found him gently asleep. Content so long as his partner was, Tochiro closed his eyes and cuddled against Harlock. Time and time again, they would be ripped apart, but time and time again they would meld back together. Their souls were so deeply entangled, they could no longer be pulled apart for long. 

Outside the ship, stars coasted by, and time ticked on.


End file.
